Pittsburgh Gender Scholars Consortium
VIRTUAL BROWN BAG SERIES (February)

Link to join the conversation

Featuring Duquesne University Gender Scholars:



Dr. Lanei Rodemeyer (Philosophy)
“Making Sense of Sensing: Transgender Studies and Phenomenological Applications”

Lanei Rodemeyer works in the areas of phenomenology, continental philosophy, the philosophy of time, and feminist/gender philosophy of the body. She has published two books: Intersubjective Temporality: It's About Time (Springer, 2006), on Husserl’s phenomenology of inner time-consciousness, and Lou Sullivan Diaries (1970-1980) and Theories of Sexual Embodiment: Making Sense of Sensing, on theories of embodiment and the diaries of Lou Sullivan. In her articles she focuses on embodied consciousness, temporality, and gender.


Dr. Jessica Devido (Nursing) and

Dr. Cathleen Appelt (Sociology)
"Wise women: An untapped community asset"

Dr. Jessica A. Devido, an Associate Professor of Nursing, a certified registered pediatric nurse practitioner, earned a Ph.D. in Nursing with a certificate in Health Equity and Women and Gender Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. Her areas of teaching and research interests include maternal-child health, community engagement, and health equity. In addition to the work Drs Devido and Appelt are engaged in regarding lived experiences and perceptions related to maternal and infant health in Pittsburgh’s African-American communities, along with their colleague, Dr. Andrew Simpson, these interests translated directly into the multidisciplinary, community-engaged, research mentoring program, Creative Strategies for Assessing Development of Cultural Competence, Higher-Order Thinking, and Research Skills among Student Participants in a Multidisciplinary, Community-Engaged Research Mentoring Program, and culminated to receipt of a Gaultier Teaching Fellowship and a Duquesne University Creative Teaching Award for the interdisciplinary team. Dr. Devido is a member of the steering committee for the School of Nursing and the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies and serves on the School of Nursing BSN Curriculum Task Force, School of Nursing Curricular Changes Based on Societal and Social Justice Issues Task Force, and Faculty Affairs Committee. She is an active member of multiple executive boards to include: The Mid-Atlantic Mothers’ Milk Bank, Western Pennsylvania Lactation Consultant Association, and National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners.

Dr. Cathleen Appelt is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Duquesne University. Before joining the faculty at Duquesne, she completed a three-year, National Institute of Mental Health-funded Postdoctoral Research Training Fellowship in the School of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. Since 2003, Dr. Appelt has been engaged in applied, multidisciplinary research focused on improving the health and well-being of vulnerable and socially marginalized groups of people. For the past six years, she has been working with Dr. Jessica Devido at Duquesne’s School of Nursing and several community partners to explore women’s lived experiences and perceptions related to maternal and infant health in Pittsburgh’s African-American communities. Dr. Appelt is a member of Sociologists for Women in Society and she serves on the Women’s & Gender Studies Steering Committee at Duquesne University.


More about PGSC:
The Pittsburgh Gender Scholars Consortium (PGSC) is a network of academics in Southwest Pennsylvania interested in women and girls, gender, and sexuality.

The consortium:

• Pittsburgh Gender Scholars promotes connections between scholars, across disciplines, and among academic institutions.


• Facilitates conversations and critical debate engaging intersectional approaches to research and pedagogical practice.


• Provides opportunities for networking and learning about emerging scholarship, community partners, and resources.

Contact Information

Melody Harris
4123651578
m.harris@chatham.edu